.

Ah, fortunate is that boy, even though his years carry him to the verge
of full manhood, who has his mother to watch over his waking and
sleeping hours, and her prayers to follow his footsteps through life.

The pattering rain, the sighing wind, and the ghostly, semi-darkness
soothed the sachem and his wife, but Jack Carleton was as wide awake as
when pushing across the Mississippi in the half overturned canoe, with
the fierce Shawanoes firing at him and his friends. Probably, in the
entire Indian village, he was the only one who was awake. Had a band of
Sioux or Iroquois stolen through the woods and descended on the Sauks
they would have been found defenceless and unprepared.

Through one of the crevices behind Jack, came a draught of wind which,
striking him on his shoulders, caused him to shiver. He moved a little
distance away, and drew the bison robe closer about him, for though a
raging fever was coursing through his veins, he knew the danger of
subjecting himself to such exposure.

He was consumed with thirst, and seeing the clumsy gourd by the side of
the sleeping squaw, he crawled forward on his hands and knees in the
hope of finding water in it. Fortunately there was an abundance and he
took a long, deep draught of the fluid, which was not very fresh nor
cold, but which was the most refreshing he had ever swallowed.

Creeping back to his primitive couch, he continued a deep mental
discussion of the question whether the best thing he could do was not to
steal out of the lodge and make a break for home. There could be little,
if any doubt, as to the ease with which such a start could be made. He
had only to rise to his feet, pass through the deer-skin door, which was
merely tied in position, and he could travel miles before morning and
before his absence would be noted. The falling rain would obliterate his
trail, so that the keen eyes of the Sauks would be unable to follow it,
and he could make assurance doubly sure by taking to the water until a
bloodhound would turn up his nose in disgust. Furthermore, he was
confident that he would be able to obtain possession of his rifle and
enough ammunition with which to provide himself food on the way home.

This was what may be called the rose-colored view of the scheme, which
had a much more practical side. While under ordinary circumstances Jack
would have been able to take care of himself at a much greater distance
from home, and in a hostile country, yet th